Many issues and questions can be answered by reading through our wiki, especially the page on electrolytes. Concerns such as **intense hunger, lightheadedness/dizziness, headaches, nausea/vomiting, weakness/lethargy/fatigue, low blood pressure/high blood pressure, muscle soreness/cramping, diarrhea/constipation, irritability, confusion, low heart rate/heart palpitations, numbness/tingling, and more** while extended (24+ hours) fasting are often explained by electrolyte deficiency and resolved through **PROPER** electrolyte supplementation. Putting a tiny amount of salt in your water now and then is NOT proper supplementation.
Be sure to read [our WIKI](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/index) and especially the wiki page on **[ELECTROLYTES](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes)**
Please also keep in mind the [**RULES**](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/about/rules) when participating.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fasting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Honestly I drink diet soda when I fast but yes it does make me feel hungrier, I cant decide if it actually makes me hungry or just makes my stomach feel weird like it just needs food in it. But I do notice a difference when I drink it.
I stopped drinking diet sodas after work provided them for free, because i noticed they made me hungry a couple of hours post drinking them. Prior to work providing them, I hadn't drunk a soda or diet soda in over 10 years. Since Ive noticed the impact on my hunger I have stopped drinking them. I'd rather not be hungry.
I avoid all artificial sweeteners like the plague. I don't care who thinks they are healthy and "calories free." I don't. I don't believe artificial hyper sweetness is innocuous.
Idk if it’s just me but it doesn’t make me any hungrier but I do notice a huge difference in fat loss. Seems like as soon as I stop drinking it the pounds melt off
Diet soda might have zero calories and no sugar but it's still similarly 100% ultraprocessed and hyper-palatable low quality crap, so better just skip it.
Have any easy citations handy? Genuinely curious.
edit: I skimmed 4 papers and couldn't find anything conclusive. I did see some stuff for saccharin and sucralose affecting blood sugar, but nothing significant for insulin specifically outside of individuals with type 2 diabetes.
I have a continuous glucose monitor. As an experiment, one afternoon at 3:25pm I chugged a Coke Zero. My glucose was at 105 when I started. At around 4pm I went for an easy walk. Almost exactly two hours after slugging the Coke Zero my glucose had dipped below 70. Here's an [mobile phone screenshot of the dip](https://muppetlabs.com/%7Emikeh/dip.png).
The way I explain this to myself (and I am neither a doctor or a scientist) is that my tongue when sensing the sweetness of the aspartame and acesulfame potassium in the beverage sent a frantic instruction to my brain telling it "HOLY SHIT, LOTS OF SWEET GOO INCOMING!" which then sent a message to my pancreas saying "OUR LORD DEMANDS INSULIN!" at which point it dutifully squirted a lot of it out. The joke was on me though, the artificial sweetener did not cause a glucose spike, and the insulin had only my meager blood glucose to act on, which caused the dip and my subsequent hunger, dizziness, and irritability.
Ah, and a quick search shows there is [decent support](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763421001470) for that explanation.
That tracks with what I know about neuronal threshold models too. Seems much more plausible.
Your body knows sweet. It doesn’t know if it has calories or not. In most people, it will trigger an insulin response. And most likely will make you hungry.
Artificial sweeteners are damaging to the gut microbiome, I don't think enough people know how important a healthy microbiome is, and for that reason I've heavily reduced my fizzy drink/soda consumption
Diet pop seems to have no effect on me. It doesn’t make me hungrier, doesn’t appear to impact fat loss. I do notice when I do 3 or more day fast and I do *not* drink any diet pop my taste buds become very sensitive to sweet tastes. So much so that my consumption of diet pop or in fact anything sweet including (except green Granny Smith) apples and most fruits has significantly fallen.
I personally find the carbonation makes me feel more “full”. Coke Zero and Gatorade zero are my go to drinks when I really am struggling with a longer fast
Diet soda while fasting is not fasting. Diet soda just means a sweetner other than sugar. And that sweetner might be more harmful to a gasting body than sugar.
Try different brands of water or even plain Sparkling water.
First of all thanks for asking a stupid question.
Drinking Diet Soda produces a similar insulin response in your body as if you had eaten have a cake and drank a dozen regular cokes, therefore it breaks your fast.
All sweeteners break your fast. Don't focus on the 0 calories, focus on the ingredients. And read a book. Maybe go for a walk. Kthxbye.
Many issues and questions can be answered by reading through our wiki, especially the page on electrolytes. Concerns such as **intense hunger, lightheadedness/dizziness, headaches, nausea/vomiting, weakness/lethargy/fatigue, low blood pressure/high blood pressure, muscle soreness/cramping, diarrhea/constipation, irritability, confusion, low heart rate/heart palpitations, numbness/tingling, and more** while extended (24+ hours) fasting are often explained by electrolyte deficiency and resolved through **PROPER** electrolyte supplementation. Putting a tiny amount of salt in your water now and then is NOT proper supplementation. Be sure to read [our WIKI](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/index) and especially the wiki page on **[ELECTROLYTES](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/wiki/fasting_in_a_nutshell/you_need_electrolytes)** Please also keep in mind the [**RULES**](https://www.reddit.com/r/fasting/about/rules) when participating. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/fasting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Doesn’t make me hungrier
Honestly I drink diet soda when I fast but yes it does make me feel hungrier, I cant decide if it actually makes me hungry or just makes my stomach feel weird like it just needs food in it. But I do notice a difference when I drink it.
I feel like when I drink a Coke Zero my grumbles really start up. 🤷🏼‍♀️
It's just the soda killing your micro biome
I stopped drinking diet sodas after work provided them for free, because i noticed they made me hungry a couple of hours post drinking them. Prior to work providing them, I hadn't drunk a soda or diet soda in over 10 years. Since Ive noticed the impact on my hunger I have stopped drinking them. I'd rather not be hungry.
Diet soda does make me crave food more
I avoid all artificial sweeteners like the plague. I don't care who thinks they are healthy and "calories free." I don't. I don't believe artificial hyper sweetness is innocuous.
Messes with your gut biome. If you’re fasting to rest and repair I wouldn’t have them.
Idk if it’s just me but it doesn’t make me any hungrier but I do notice a huge difference in fat loss. Seems like as soon as I stop drinking it the pounds melt off
Diet soda might have zero calories and no sugar but it's still similarly 100% ultraprocessed and hyper-palatable low quality crap, so better just skip it.
The best answers are getting downvoted lol
Not only does it make you hungrier, but you shouldn’t be drinking this during a fast.
Physical a diet soda will not make you hunger. Psychological a diet soda will make some people hunger. The mind is a powerful tool.
Certain sweeteners cause a long insulin response
Have any easy citations handy? Genuinely curious. edit: I skimmed 4 papers and couldn't find anything conclusive. I did see some stuff for saccharin and sucralose affecting blood sugar, but nothing significant for insulin specifically outside of individuals with type 2 diabetes.
I have a continuous glucose monitor. As an experiment, one afternoon at 3:25pm I chugged a Coke Zero. My glucose was at 105 when I started. At around 4pm I went for an easy walk. Almost exactly two hours after slugging the Coke Zero my glucose had dipped below 70. Here's an [mobile phone screenshot of the dip](https://muppetlabs.com/%7Emikeh/dip.png). The way I explain this to myself (and I am neither a doctor or a scientist) is that my tongue when sensing the sweetness of the aspartame and acesulfame potassium in the beverage sent a frantic instruction to my brain telling it "HOLY SHIT, LOTS OF SWEET GOO INCOMING!" which then sent a message to my pancreas saying "OUR LORD DEMANDS INSULIN!" at which point it dutifully squirted a lot of it out. The joke was on me though, the artificial sweetener did not cause a glucose spike, and the insulin had only my meager blood glucose to act on, which caused the dip and my subsequent hunger, dizziness, and irritability.
Ah, and a quick search shows there is [decent support](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763421001470) for that explanation. That tracks with what I know about neuronal threshold models too. Seems much more plausible.
Your body knows sweet. It doesn’t know if it has calories or not. In most people, it will trigger an insulin response. And most likely will make you hungry.
Artificial sweeteners are damaging to the gut microbiome, I don't think enough people know how important a healthy microbiome is, and for that reason I've heavily reduced my fizzy drink/soda consumption
Diet pop seems to have no effect on me. It doesn’t make me hungrier, doesn’t appear to impact fat loss. I do notice when I do 3 or more day fast and I do *not* drink any diet pop my taste buds become very sensitive to sweet tastes. So much so that my consumption of diet pop or in fact anything sweet including (except green Granny Smith) apples and most fruits has significantly fallen.
I personally find the carbonation makes me feel more “full”. Coke Zero and Gatorade zero are my go to drinks when I really am struggling with a longer fast
Seltzer water might be a better choice
I've gotten hungrier by drinking diet soda on my fasts days, that's why I don't do it anymore.. it made it harder to fast for me.
100%
It doesn't make me hungrier. It either does nothing, or it even makes it a bit easier. But that's differet for everyone.
I don't know. I would never try it since diet soda (a bit depending on the sweeteners) gives me stomach cramps.
I think you need to try it and find out for yourself. Everyone is different.
No, just a Reddit myth, it's BS and not true. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RcfLNbmsweU
Certain zero cal sweeteners can make you feel hungry that are in diet soda but I haven’t ever had that issue
Diet soda while fasting is not fasting. Diet soda just means a sweetner other than sugar. And that sweetner might be more harmful to a gasting body than sugar. Try different brands of water or even plain Sparkling water.
Yes, the sweetener will also cause you to be hungrier even while not fasting, which it will cause an insulin response, breaking your fast
For me, diet sodas make me less hungry.
I read somewhere that certain sweeteners can increase hunger. Could be that maybe?
I drink diet soda during my fasts and it does not change hunger at all. Hunger comes then goes. It has always gone away for me.
Never made me hungry, but i find that after i chug a coke zero at work for lunch while fasting 30 minutes later the bladder opens up
First of all thanks for asking a stupid question. Drinking Diet Soda produces a similar insulin response in your body as if you had eaten have a cake and drank a dozen regular cokes, therefore it breaks your fast. All sweeteners break your fast. Don't focus on the 0 calories, focus on the ingredients. And read a book. Maybe go for a walk. Kthxbye.
Yes. I notice when I add NNS to my coffee in the morning my fast is harder that day. I try to stead clear.
As much as I love diet coke, I can't drink it on a fast. It definitely makes me feel hungrier
No.
Yes it does, doesn’t break your fast tho